Next: 26 Nov 2026
Thanksgiving and baked macaroni cheese
The American harvest feast, where a baked dish of macaroni and Cheddar sits beside the turkey on many Southern tables.
Cheeses for Thanksgiving and baked macaroni cheese
Thanksgiving, on the fourth Thursday of November, is the largest family meal of the American year. Turkey and pumpkin pie are national, but the side dishes vary by region and family, and baked macaroni and cheese is a fixture in Southern and African American homes, made with sharp Cheddar, eggs and milk and baked until the top is crisp. Elsewhere, cheese balls rolled in nuts are set out before the meal, and cheese boards come out while the turkey rests. Some families bake mac and cheese in quantities for several days of leftovers.
The cheeses
Also part of it, and being written: Cheddar cheese (Sharp Cheddar is the classic cheese for baked mac and cheese.).
Written by the EveryCheese desk with AI assistance. Background: "Thanksgiving (United States)" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Cream cheese: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Colby: Jeff the quiet, CC BY-SA 3.0, source